


that's the danger

by seeingrightly



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:43:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: Hermann’s told him he’s an embarrassing drunk. It’s the type of information Newt has to pretend he doesn’t have, these days; it’s from the Before Times. But he has it, and he’s a little drunk himself, and he can’t help it.





	that's the danger

**Author's Note:**

> [pinky voice] gee brain what do you want to project onto hermann gottlieb tonight
> 
> idk what this really is, other than a projection of how i get when i'm drunk and how i feel about it, except from newt's pov, idk
> 
> i hope you can tell from context but if not, this takes place shortly after hermann and newt start working at the same shatterdome for the first time and holds The Letters as canon
> 
> title from "body language" by carly rae jepsen

 

 

 

It’s someone’s birthday, Newt isn’t sure whose. A J-tech, probably, because he’d heard Hermann get invited, not that he expects him to show up. They haven’t been working together for very long, but he hasn’t seen Hermann attend a social event yet, or do much outside of work.

So it’s a bit of a surprise when Newt wanders into a new section of this weird corner of the Shatterdome and spots Hermann, talking animatedly to a young woman. Maybe Newt should leave him alone, but there’s a drink in Hermann’s hand.

Hermann’s told him he’s an embarrassing drunk. It’s the type of information Newt has to pretend he doesn’t have, these days; it’s from the Before Times. But he has it, and he’s a little drunk himself, and he can’t help it.

“Hey,” Newt says as he reaches Hermann’s side.

“Oh!” Hermann says. “Hello.”

His cheeks are pink, his hair is ruffled, and the expression on his face is more mild and - Newt almost doesn’t dare to think it - pleasant than Newt has possibly ever seen. He’s trashed. Newt stares up at him in awe for a moment too long.

“Okay, bye,” says the J-tech Hermann had been talking to, and then she’s gone.

“Oh,” Hermann and Newt say simultaneously.

“Well, alright,” Newt says, regretting his choice already. “You having a good time over here?”

“Hm,” Hermann says. “Yes, Newt. Newton.”

_ Incredible _ , Newt thinks, and he can’t help that he’s looking at Hermann with wide eyes, like Bambi or something.

“Huh,” he manages. “Okay. I was thinking about getting some snacks. You want anything? Maybe… a water?”

“No, I do not need a  _ water _ ,” Hermann says, reaching out and punching Newt gently in the upper arm. “I’m an adult.”

Newt’s mouth opens and then shuts and then opens again.

“I feel like maybe you do need one,” he says, and then Hermann reaches out and puts his hand on Newt’s shoulder, leaning in a little closer.

“I do  _ not _ ,” he says, “but thank you for caring.”

“Right,” Newt says, staring down at Hermann’s hand.

When he looks back up, Hermann is looking at him in a weird way, squinting a little, and he’s smiling. He looks like he has a secret, like maybe he doesn’t think Newt can tell that he’s amused.

“I feel like you’re gonna regret this tomorrow,” Newt says.

Hermann removes his hand, but doesn’t step back.

“No, no,” he says, waving his hand between them, almost throwing off his balance. “I’m very good at preventing hangovers.”

“Not what I meant, but I’d like to know your secret,” Newt replies. “I meant the whole, uh, being nice and friendly and touchy thing.”

Hermann frowns down at his hand.

“It is embarrassing,” he says after a moment, a little quieter than he’d been speaking before. “It destroys the - the - aura I intentionally - cultivate -”

“Okay, yeah, I get it,” Newt says quickly. “Gotta be closed off to protect yourself, but drunk you goes and ruins that, shows us you really have feelings that can be hurt in there, right?”

Hermann stares at Newt for a long moment. Newt said too much, he knows he did, but it’s  _ so _ hard to resist saying a thing when he knows he’s right about it.

“You do get it,” Hermann says blankly. “ _ How _ do you get it so well?”

Newt rubs at the back of his head and looks away. This version of Hermann is too earnest, too exposed, and now Newt’s exposed too.

“I know we don’t talk about it but you’ve told me a lot about yourself, dude,” he says. “I mean, if anyone here already knows what you’re like in there, it’s me.”

“In there,” Hermann repeats. “Yes, inside this... shell. I don’t want it to crack, Newt. Newton. I don’t want anyone else to see inside it.”

Anyone else, Newt thinks. He wonders if that’s only because he’s already seen inside, or if he’s still the exception.

“Then maybe you do want that water after all?” Newt asks.

“Maybe,” Hermann says. “But not here. Can we go?”

He’s looking at Newt expectantly, like there’s no way they’d leave separately, even though they hadn’t come together. Somehow, Newt thinks he’s right.

“Yeah, okay, let’s go,” Newt says.

Hermann is a little unsteady as they walk, and Newt puts an arm out just in case. When he looks over, Hermann is making that not-so-secretly amused expression again. It makes Newt feel warm, a little embarrassed, a lot pleased, to have proof that Hermann ever thinks about him anymore in a way that’s positive, nothing malicious to it at all. To think that Hermann might feel whatever he’s feeling right now at other times, when alcohol isn’t making his face betray it.

“Where we headed?” Newt asks.

“My  _ room _ ,” Hermann says, shooting Newt one of his typical condescending looks, though his tone is definitely fonder than Newt has ever heard it in this kind of context.

When they arrive, Newt’s not sure if he’s supposed to come inside too until Hermann looks back over his shoulder expectantly. Newt shuts the door behind them and then waits near it while Hermann sits down on the bed to remove his shoes.

“Get two glasses of water, will you?” Hermann says distractedly.

Newt does, placing them on the nightstand, and then he notices that one of Hermann’s shoes is still on. Hermann has some fine motor skill issues on a good day, tremors in his hands, and the alcohol probably isn’t helping. Newt squats down and unties the shoe quickly, pulling it off. Hermann’s hand lands on his upper arm before he can stand back up.

“Thank you,” Hermann says quietly. “For this. And for - for protecting my -”

“Your aura?” Newt asks, teasing just a little.

Hermann shoves at his arm, and Newt falls back and lands on his ass, gaping up at him. The smile that crosses Hermann’s face is wide and unguarded, and then, as though that hasn’t already punched Newt straight through the chest, Hermann laughs, openly, his head thrown back, his throat exposed, loud and rich. He laughs for more than a few seconds, sighing when he calms.

“Your face,” he says as an afterthought, gesturing toward Newt, who still hasn’t moved in his shock.

“My face,” he repeats weakly. “ _ Your _ face, man.”

“What about it?” Hermann asks, though he’s still amused. “Get off the floor and come up here.”

“Where?” Newt asks as he rises to his feet, and then Hermann actually pats the bed next to him. “Oh.”

When he sits, carefully, leaving a good few inches between them, Hermann hands him one of the glasses of water. Newt sips it dutifully, nervous.

“I did mean it,” Hermann says belatedly. “Thank you for caring. And for understanding.”

“Yeah, man,” Newt says, quiet. “You got it.”

Hermann turns to look at Newt, his expression thoughtful and serious.

“At the core of it,” he says, “you’re a good friend to me, despite everything. I’m going to be better.”

Newt can feel his eyebrows raise and his cheeks turn pink as he ducks his head.

“Oh,” he says, clearing his throat. “Are we friends, then?”

“At the core,” Hermann says again, his voice amused and so, so serious, “what we are is complicated. But you’ve been a good friend to me, and that’s important.”

He places his hand on top of Newt’s on the bed between them. Newt makes himself look up at Hermann. They’re very close together, and Hermann’s long eyelashes flutter dramatically when he blinks, like it’s in high definition. Newt can’t breathe. He doesn’t know if he’s right about what’s about to happen, but if he is, it shouldn’t happen right now.

He stands up abruptly, nearly tripping over his own feet, nearly upending the glass of water he’d forgotten he was holding.

“Uh, hey,” Newt says, his voice coming out too loud, or maybe too quiet, he can’t really tell. “Thanks for the… water. I should go.”

Hermann frowns as Newt places his glass on the nightstand.

“If you’re sure,” he says. “You don’t have to.”

He sounds unhappy about it. Newt shuts his eyes tightly for a moment.

“I think I do,” he says, turning away from Hermann before he opens his eyes. “Night, Hermann.”

“Good night, Newton. Drink more water before you go to sleep.”

Newt huffs out a quiet laugh as he heads for the door.

“Yeah, you too,” he says, and then he leaves.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twitter at [coralbluenmbr5](https://twitter.com/coralbluenmbr5) and tumblr at [ch3ry1b10ss0m](http://ch3ry1b10ss0m.tumblr.com)


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